TriMet marks one-year milestone of light rail bridge

One year ago, the Federal Transit Administration gave TriMet permission to authorize Kiewit Infrastructure West to begin design and construction of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge, the first bridge to be built over the Willamette River in more than 40 years. In that time, more than 1 million pages of calculations have gone into the engineering of the bridge, now being built in the river. Drilling for the first of 12 shafts is complete and crews placed a rebar cage in advance of concrete, which was poured on Friday, Dec. 23.

Other major milestones include:

• Securing 34 federal, state and local permits to begin construction • All work completed in the 4-month, in-water construction window • Drilling for the first shaft is complete; crews are placing the rebar cage (in two sections).

The 7.3-mile project is the region's sixth MAX line to be built and extends from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University to South Waterfront, Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and Park Avenue in Clackamas County. It will create about 14,000 jobs and generate $573 million in personal earnings. When it opens in September 2015, it will extend the MAX system to 60 miles.